The present disclosure relates generally to aircraft communication, and more particularly to aircraft broadband communication with a data network on the ground that is supported over heterogeneous connectivity.
As technology has increased, the amount of software and data needed on-board aircraft has increased as well. This increased need is particularly evident in the size of the aircraft information system with the latest aircraft models. With the large amount of information collected during a flight that is required to be off-loaded and the passenger entertainment data that is generally uploaded between flights, the Turn Around Time (TAT) at the gate for aircraft is impacted. In order to complete this operation within the acceptable TAT, there are data efficiency challenges such as slow connectivity and security issues using known data transfer techniques.
Accordingly, there is a need for methods and systems that provide efficient and secure data transfer while the aircraft is parked at a gate between the flights over off-board connectivity available at the airport.